Save Up for the Future

It is difficult to save money especially if you are only earning enough to pay the bills. They say that one should actually take 10-20% of your salary every pay day as your savings. But how do you do this when you are essentially cash strapped and that your pay is not enough.

1. Credit Card Trap. – Credit cards are helpful if you are responsible enough to use them. Credit card payments take a huge chunk of our salaries and when this is the case, it would probably be better to cut them up and pay them off until such time you are earning more than enough to catch up on payments. Finance charges and fees are compounded especially if you are not a balance payer and this may leave you with more charges to pay for than your actual purchases.

2. Track your spending. – It is helpful that you keep track of your expenses every single day so you will be able to see where you are spending more on and what your spending patterns are. This will help you eliminate unnecessary expenses, such as coffee breaks spent at Starbucks or even buying candy from the gas stations, and help you redirect those expenses to something that is more important.

3. Limit eating out. – Eating out is more expensive than you think it is. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to eliminate it. You may want to just eat out with friends once a month to catch up on each other. Eating out every single day or week is not healthy and is expensive. As an alternative, you may offer to cook lunch or dinner or just organize a pot luck party. The get together becomes more special and intimate this way and it costs less too.

4. Carpool – With the prices of gas soaring high nowadays, it is best that you organize a carpool with your friends if you all use a car going to and from work. Each passenger may chip in for gas and you can do a carpool rotation if your friends would like that. You do not only save on gas, you also save our environment from those harmful car emissions.

5. Use coupons for grocery shopping – Don’t you know that these coupons are of so much help when it comes to your groceries? A lot of those coupons you see online and in newspapers can get you more savings that you can actually imagine. Don’t be afraid to use them. The extra buck or two in savings will help a lot stretch your budget and put more money towards your personal savings.

Now is the best time to try out and use these tips. Be a wise spender and save some money now.